Bates students join Auburn schools to lead environmental day camp

The Auburn School Department, in collaboration with four students at Bates, is opening an environmental summer day camp for students in grades 2-8 at the 13-acre Auburn Land Lab located in the C.P. Wight School at the northern end of Lake Auburn. Transportation is available.

There will be two two-week camp sessions, weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The first session runs from July 6-17, and the second from July 20-31. The cost for each session will be $216. Sliding scale tuition and scholarship funding are available for qualified campers.

Children attending the Auburn Land Lab Summer Camp will explore the natural world, work in the community gardens and enjoy a variety of games and activities. Four Bates students, including sophomore Bridget Huber of Wells, junior Matt Schlobohm of West Springfield, Mass., sophomore Ethan Miller of Allentown, Pa., and sophomore Laurie McKenzie of Portland, Ore., will work with the children. The program also will present community members, including master gardeners and storytellers.

“We’re interested in sparking a sense of wonder about the natural world in children,” Huber said. “We also want to encourage them to feel a sense of empowerment, that it’s up to them to protect the environment.”

Grants to Bates College from the Howard Hughes Foundation will fund part of the camp operations and student salaries. Additional funding for Bates student salaries is provided by the Bates College Center for Service Learning.